Addressing Cabinet ministers after Labour’s bruising election results, the Prime Minister said he accepted responsibility for the setback but rejected suggestions his position was under immediate threat, and he will not quit.
“As I said yesterday, I take responsibility for these election results and I take responsibility for delivering the change we promised,” Sir Keir told ministers.
“The past 48 hours have been destabilising for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.”
His remarks came amid growing market turmoil, with investors increasingly unnerved by political uncertainty at Westminster alongside fears over the escalating Iran crisis and rising oil prices.
Sir Keir sought to stamp out rumours of an internal coup, stressing that Labour’s formal mechanism for removing a leader had not been initiated.
“The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered,” he said.
“The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet.”
The unusually defensive intervention underlines the pressure building on Downing Street following Labour’s poor electoral showing and widening concerns among MPs over the party’s direction in government.
It also came as financial markets reacted nervously to the growing instability, with gilt yields surging, sterling weakening and London stocks falling sharply amid fears political uncertainty could compound Britain’s economic problems.
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